The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop '53 Suburban upholstery

I'm looking for the exact factory vinyl upholstery for my '53 Chevy Suburban.

Its brown with a little bit of grain or texture and the back side says "Weymouth" repeatedly. My upholstery guy says he'll need about 9-10 yds.
Anyone got a source for this stuff? A bit of web searching and a good look through his catalogs hasn't turned up any leads.

Also, does anyone have a source for those odd screws that hold the bottom end of the backrest to the frame? (probably the same on pickups) I need three of those plus the driver bit that fits them.

Thanks,
John Heller

JohnHeller,

Jim Carter sells upholstery material and ready-made kits for 1953 Chevrolet Suburban (all brown or all maroon - Spanish grain "leatherette"). These kits do not match the 1954 maroon/gray upholstery but the 1947.5-1953 brown kits seems to be a good match. I think he sells material at $22/yd and I found his kit prices (and quality) to be quite good.

Don't know if this link will work (some on-line catalog's do not allow linking to pages).

http://www.oldchevytrucks.biz/c/g8/p/b149f.html

Tim

Thanks Tim, I'll call them on Monday. I stopped in at Jim Carter's when we brought the truck home from IL in June and I thought they had told me their upholstery was only "close" but not exact? But I'll ask again as my memory isn't what it used to be.
-John

John,I really enjoyed my visit with you & your fine original airport ambulance burb on Thanksgiving. Your burb has the most un-molested original interior I have seen yet in a burb. Please be careful not to tear up that "time capsule" of an interior when replacing things.
How is that center seat working out???

Joe I've been meaning to write and thank you for helping me with that middle seat. All three rows of frames have been carefully blasted and are getting powder coated in exactly the original brown. Upholstery is next. Again I'll match the original front seats or keep looking.

I still need four sets of Chevy wingnuts, I've looked at the hardware store stuff and it just isn't the same. (a lot of it says made in Korea too) Have you got four sets you can sell me? (farmer's bolt, wingnut and that little shaped pillowblock that's curved to match the frame tube) Also I need three of those "Chevy type" screws that hold the bottom of the seat back to the frame. (the seat I got from you had three rusty mismatched bolts there)

Thanks again,
-John

John,

Do you have a brand and part# for the powder coat you are using? If you need photos of the original hardware, I might be able to help you out.

Ken I can get it if that would be helpful to other restorers? The powdercoat guy is a long time hot rodder (as his hobby) and we spent about two hours going through his sample books and then he made up two samples that seemed closest and then we held the samples up in the sunlight with some of my frames and one was an exact match. Its a little darker than I would have guessed but we matched it to the frame from under the seat where daylight shouldn't have gotten to it. It seems that Chevy might have used several different browns at the factory as the frames differed a little as did the plate that screws to the floor where the folding seat comes to rest. (it was a little more like the M&M brown that's been dropped [for purple can you beat that!] and the seat frames are a little closer to the M&M brown that's still around)(if that makes sense?) And none of it matches the dash or the painted metal around the windows or the cardboard headliner or the door panels.
Before the seats come back I'm planning on waxing up the interior sheet metal and I'll get you some pictures.
-John

John, yes - if you can get the info on the brown your powder coater is using that would be great, in fact, if he is willing to sell enough to do another set of frames, I would be happy to pay him for a bucket and have it UPS'd to me. I have a local powder coater that does nice work, but he only deals with industrial machinery and is not a car/truck nut. I would love to see some pictures of the inside of your rig.

Ken

I'll get the brand and number when I pick them up. It isn't a custom mix so your guy should be able to get it locally. He explained to me that unlike liquid pigment, when you mix two colors of powder you a speckled finish, not a new color.

Update:
Ken, I picked up some of the frames today and they look great! The other's weren't up to his standards (they looked OK to me), so he's going to redo them.
On the color, for Chevrolet Suburban '53 (and probably some other years) ask your powder coating guy for RAL 8011. This isn't a brand, its a European color number system. (like Pantone) (Its a light milk chocolate color.)
My powder coat guy says that several manufacturers make this color and depending on where in the country you live, its safer to specify this color number than for you to have to track down a particular brand of powder.
And I don't know if any of you live close enough to give this guy any business, but he's been really great to deal with, he's a hot rodder himself and a real perfectionist and even 'tho the shop is geared to production runs, for car guys he'll do small jobs. Its a 45 minute drive for me, but its been well worth it.

RTS Production Powder Coating
15121 Sierra Bonita
Chino CA 91710
Don Reed
sales@teamrts.com
909-393-5404
909-393-5406

Tim, you are absolutely right about Jim Carter for the upholstery. Its $22/yd (about twice what commonly available vinyl upholstery goes for :rolleyes: ) and isn't in the catalog. The phone person had to go and ask. It isn't here yet, so I can't comment on how closely it matches the original, but I should know soon.

Meanwhile, can any of you guys sell me some seat hardware? I need four sets of the farmer's bolt/wingnut/pillowblock for my middle seat and three of those screwy Chevy headed bolts that hold the backrest to the frame. (They're up underneath the bottom edge and probably the same on pickups?) And does anyone have an easy source for the driver bit that fits those screws? (Craftsman maybe?)
Thanks,
-John

John,

Would you please contact me if you find a source for the set attachment hardware? I need one set (for one connection point).

[email protected]

The Chevy screws are called "clutch head" and divers are available from NAPA (we have been told) and most reproduction parts vendors.

http://www.americanclassic.com/asp/dyncatV2.asp
(search for "clutch head")

Chev's of the 40's use to sell a set of driver bits that are quite useful with a small ratchet or driver (they also sell a 1/4" socket for the bits/tips).

http://www.parts123.com/PartFrame.a...softhe40s.com&TITLE=Chevs_of_the_40s
(searh for "clutch head")
Tim

" And does anyone have an easy source for the driver bit that fits those screws? (Craftsman maybe?)"

John the clutchhead drivers are avaliable @ all Napa's.
The Clutchhead screws are on the way to you.

The Saga continues...

1st, thanks Mothertrucker for the clutchhead screws and telling me their real name. He's one of the really great people I've meet on this forum, always ready to share information and in this case FREE screws. I picked up two smaller sizes of driver bits tonight in my local Osh Hardware
(owned by Sears, west coast chain only I think)
[img]http://www.choyassociates.com/Stovebolt/clutch-head.jpg[/img]

The seat mounting bolts are going to be a little harder to find. Here's what they look like:
[img]http://www.choyassociates.com/Stovebolt/bolts-black.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.choyassociates.com/Stovebolt/bolts-white.jpg[/img]

There's four pieces to each; the carriage or farmer's bolt, the pillow block, a lock washer and the wingnut. There's no text on any of them. So far I've found lots of simillar bolts and wingnuts but with writing and not exactly identical. Course some of them should do the job OK, but I'd like to find four actual chevy sets if I can. Tim needs a set too while your all out looking in your coffee cans!

Anyways, that's the easy stuff, the bad news is that Jim Carter's has let me down. I got 11yds of their "perfect match" Spanish grain brown vinyl today, and it isn't even close.
Now I have the highest respect for those guys, and I'm sure its exact for some year and model of Chevy or GMC truck, maybe even some '53 Suburbans, but not mine. I should have known better too; when I was there with the truck in June I bought a driver's door handle to replace my torn up original. (broken purple bakelight underpiece) It doesn't match my upholstery, but it is an exact match for the yard goods they just sent me. The stitching isn't all that close either.
[img]http://www.choyassociates.com/Stovebolt/door-handles.jpg[/img]
Jim Carter's Brown Vinyl on the left
Chevy's '53 Suburban Vinyl on the right
(This brown vinyl is labeled Weymouth all over the backing, my truck was built at the Wisconsin plant, fabric is an exact match for the fragments of remaining upholstery on the middle seat Mothertrucker found me in a junkyard in Arizona.)(birthplace unknown)
Sigh,
So the fabric needs to go back and I'm still hunting for the right stuff. My upholstery guy has found an exact match for the grain, but its quite a bit lighter shade of brown so there might be somebody out there still making the right stuff. (And if somebody has an unbroken purple bakelight driver's dool pull, fabric unimportant, please let me know)
So that's today's installment of "As the Suburban Fabric Turns", tune in next time, same Stovebolt Station.
-John

Umm...I don't think that's a door pull, it looks like the accessory armrest. Might explain why it was broken. I doubt that bakelite was designed to handle 40 years of being used as a handle. Good luck on your vinyl search.

The one on the LEFT is an exact match to my 1953 Chevrolet's upholstery...

Interesting, need 11yds of fabric?

Hey! Dont blame me 'cause you have too many seats in YOUR truck!

Thanks for the sympathy!

Talked to Jim Carter's and they say theirs is the closest match to original, but isn't exact.

They're taking it back with a 20% restocking fee and I paid both ways shipping. But theirs is so different than mine, there has to be another explanation? Maybe the pickups and Suburbans didn't have the same upholstery at all? Or maybe there were two trim levels for the interior?

Does anybody know for certain? And just out of curiosity, what years were the seat frames purple in the Suburban? (and was it the same for Chevy and GMC?) Anybody know what happened to Weymouth?

-John

John,

Sorry to hear about the Jim Carter problem. I don't have answers to many of your questions but here is some information.

1953 (and, presumably earlier) the Suburban seat frames and garnish moldings were Wicker Brown. The upholstery was all brown. There might have been a deluxe option with maroon seat frames and covers but I do not have any documents for 1953.

1954 (and, presumably, 1955-1st series) the Suburban seat frames and garnish moldings were Maroon. The upholstery was maroon sides and gray top surfaces. There was no deluxe seat option.

Tim

OK so the third seat I'm using came from a '54 and the upholstery on it which I thought was a recover, is probably original.
Thanks for the info.
-John

Suburban Seats 1950 GMC are 2/3rds of way down page

Alternate if that doesn't work:
Go to this link - Then click on &qu...of way down page at Suburban Seat Photos

Thanks Kook,
The '51 swatch looks about right and there's also some original vinyl peeking through near the door in the 1951 "ca5" shot. Looks like someone reupholstered this one over the original. The fabric was close, but they went for contrasting piping.
-John

John, I have a local source for the wingnuts & wide head carriage bolt. Give me an email & I can give you his phone #. Maybe you can fax or email a picture of the needed parts to him. In any case the the hardware will be new & may not be exact.
If you will settle for nothing but original GM hardware , this guy wont be much help.